London’s most expensive home: GBP58m Chelsea Barracks townhouse is the priciest property on the market now

The controversial Chelsea Barracks development’s 15,000-square-foot townhouse has been put up for sale for GBP58million. It is the most expensive property currently on the London open market. The six-storey, luxurious home is not listed on any search portals but has its own restricted access website. However, it is the most expensive home that has been sold elsewhere online. It is a Mayfair mansion worth GBP54million dating back to 1732. The new Chelsea Barracks townhouse is described as “21st Century Georgian” and is one of 13 within the exclusive enclave, which includes 64 apartments, penthouses and a mews home. It was designed by Ben Pentreath, the Duchess’s preferred architect. The mews house was sold at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic for GBP18 million. Three of the 13 townhouses sold so far. The interiors were designed by Albion Nord/Chelsea Barracks. This location is the epitome of prime real property – at the southern tip of Belgravia, bordering Kensington and Chelsea. The home, which has seven bedrooms, boasts a spa with a 12m pool and in-house treatments rooms. A cinema room, a private roof terrace and garden, a study, and a passenger and service lift provide access to the home. There is also a separate luxury mews for guests or lucky teenagers. Albion Nord’s interior design features herringbone flooring, marble fireplaces, and a 3.5m high ceiling. Number 2 Whistler Square, the only townhouse with an annex in the garden, is the most expensive. The former military base was converted into a spa and swimming pool/Chelsea Barracks. This has been controversial since its inception. The first version of the masterplan was rejected by residents. It was sold by the Ministry of Defence, Qatari Diar (the development arm of Qatari royal families) and British property developers Candy & Candy for GBP1billion in 2006. The original design by Lord Rogers, a modernist architect, included 320 apartments in pavilions and 10-storey buildings of steel and glass. The Price of Wales intervened as well. The plans were not in keeping with the area’s elegant period buildings. Squire & Partners redesigned a 12.8-acre masterplan. It included an eight-storey apartment block, a nod towards Belgravia’s white stucco-fronted Georgian piles. Portland Whitbed, a middle layer made of Portland limestone quarried along the Jurassic coast, was used to build the apartment complex. The cream-coloured rock is indented by tiny remnants of fossils as well as imprints from tiny marine creatures. This is why Chelsea Barracks was granted the highly-coveted eco-credential LEED Platinum accreditation for neighbourhood planning. 40 percent of the development is open to the public. It includes a kitchen garden, herb garden, and a Bridget Riley-inspired garden. Squire is proud that anyone can walk through the middle, rather than having it gated. His vision was to allow people to cut through the residential area from Chelsea Bridge Road to Pimlico Road. The scheme still raises eyebrows despite this. H&P reported that one agent for the estate said that it was impossible to imagine that the masterplan for Chelsea Barracks would be approved by the Mayor of London today. READ MORELondon’s Chelsea Barracks is named the most sustainable residential development in EuropeCharles establishes a charity foundation on a barracks site that sparked architectural rowsFirst look at Chelsea Barracks, the controversial GBP3.5billion site that opened to the public for the first time in 150 Years. However, a spokesperson for Chelsea Barracks stated that 126 new affordable homes will be built in a later stage along with a healthcare center and retail outlets. The developer also funded the restoration and reopening of the Grade II-listed Garrison Chapel as an community center. The Prince’s Foundation, whose president happens to be the Prince of Wales, announced last summer that the former military chapel would be used as an exhibition space. The space will be used for the charity’s work and the work of its graduates, with a special focus on traditional arts and heritage crafts skills in a gallery. It will also offer classes and workshops to locals.